A Spiral in a Dreamer's Eye
by Thingishness
Summary: Inuyasha is being plagued by dreams...but he's not the only one. Chapter 8 up. Rated for language.
1. Idle Dreams and Prophases

Authors Note:  Hey everyone!  Just a little warning here, I don't own Inuyasha, or any of the characters, only this story.  Please review a butch, and Enjoy ^_^

  
A Spiral in a Dreamer's Eye

  
Chapter One

Idle Dreams and Prophases__

_Kikyo…?_

_No…  Kikyo's dead… Naraku killed her_

_Then who?_

_The familiar outline, the pleasant scent…_

_Kagome? Yes, it was Kagome…_

_Why was she running away?_

_"Kagome!"_

_No response…Why is she crying?_

_"KAGOME!!!"_

_There… she turned around…  what?_

_Not Kagome…_

_"Naraku! What did you do to Kagome!?"_

***

Inuyasha found himself soaked with sweat, curled up in a corner of one of the bamboo huts in Kaede-baba's village.

_Feh,_ he thought. _Now I remember why I never sleep while I'm human._ He looked up at the black locks of hair. _Damn nightmares._

Suddenly, Kagome broke into the hut. "Inuyasha, are you ok?" _Damn, he was still sweating._ "I heard you calling out my name."  _Oh great now I sleep talk._

"Feh. You must have been dreaming."

"O…Oh."

"Go back to sleep…" Those words came out harder than he meant…"I'm fine, really…" he added.

"Ok…  Goodnight then."

"Goodnight." _Hmph… why am I always so terrible to her when she's just trying to care?  Oh this stupid human form, none of this would have happened if I were a full youkai._

Determined not to sleep again that night, the Hanyou started pacing the hut, thinking about his dream.

_Kikyo's dead…_ He had accepted that fact by now but_ damn… _it hurt_… AH! _He slammed his fists on the floor._ It's all this human form's fault_._ I shouldn't try to think about anything while I'm this weak.  But I don't want to sleep again. _ He continued his pacing._ Why was Kagome crying?  That Naraku… if he did something to her!_

Forgetting his human form for once, Inuyasha punched the wall of the hut, placing a small dent, but knocking him backwards with the pain.

"YOW!!" he yelled, quickly stifling himself and hoping Kagome had not heard.

_Baka baka baka... you should know better than that Inuyasha…  This weak, pathetic, weak, terrible, weak, damned, WEAK human form!  Why was I upset anyway,_ he thought, discovering how foolish he was._ How could Naraku have hurt her?   It was just a dream, wasn't it? _

Somehow it seemed far too real to be a mere dream.

The night had barely begun, and yet, he had already grown tired of thinking about his dream.  He could feel his limbs slowing as he paced, and his eyelids drooping.

_I can't keep this up, I'm going to fall asleep walking at this rate._

***

_Kouga… ugh, just the sight of him makes me sick._

_"Get away from her!"_

_Kagome… no… don't… no… stop holding him…_

_Wait… that's not Kouga… that's… NARAKU!_

_"Don't touch her!"_

_I won't let you…_

_"Kaze-no-kizu!"_

_***_

Stunned, Inuyasha stared at the wreckage of the hut he was now standing in, holding a transformed Tessaiga.

"Shit!"              

He'd slept right through dawn, and turned back into his normal, powerful, youkai form.

_I'm lucky I decided to have my own hut last night, that was one of the most powerful Kaze-no-Kizu's I've ever produced… and I did it in my sleep too.  I guess one good thing came out of my human form… if the others had been in here…  _He shuddered.

Suddenly, Sango and Miroku appeared, fully armed, quickly followed by Kagome with her bow, and several villagers, sleepy eyed, but still armed with various types of farming equipment.

"Where are they, Inuyasha?" said Sango, quickly followed by an "I don't sense anything" from Kagome.

"What happened here?" asked Miroku. "There clearly aren't any youkai nearby."

"Feh, nothing." barked Inuyasha. _I can't tell them what happened… that I lost control in my sleep…  how pathetic._

"I got bored, and didn't like the way the walls looked."

"So you destroyed them?!" asked Kagome incredulously.

"Well it _is_ the kind of thing he would do…" Miroku added mockingly.        

"True enough"

_Good… they bought it_

Kagome started reassuring the villagers that everything was ok, while a more than slightly pissed off Sango started berating Inuyasha.

"Well, now that Inuyasha so kindly woke us all up…"

"Oh don't be so hard on him; the walls _were_ kind of ugly…"

"Shut up, Houshi-sama!"

Slightly taken aback, Miroku silenced himself.

"As I was saying, since we're awake," she glared daggers at Inuyasha, "where should we go next? Kagome, have you sensed any shikon shards lately?"

Kagome was almost afraid to respond because of Sango's less than pleasant mood, but she had actually noticed a shikon shard just seconds ago.

"Hai, two of them in fact… moving quickly this way."

_Two? Moving quickly… _"Feh… not Kouga again!"

"Seems that way," shouted Shippo, who, previously unnoticed, was circling above on Kirara.

"Listen Kagome," Inuyasha started, "you're going to have to…"

"Loose your temper again puppy snot?"

_Choose_… thought Inuyasha, unable to finish his sentence.

The voice Inuyasha hated so much came floating in from a whirlwind coming towards them from the woods.  It suddenly dispersed, and Kouga stepped out of it. He stopped in front of Kagome, grabbing her hands…the wolf prince's usual entrance.

"No, wolf crap, I just had a nightmare about your ugly face."

_Funny, that's almost true,_ thought Inuyasha as he laughed out loud.

Kagome stepped in-between the two youkai, hoping to stop the fight that hadn't started yet.

"What brings you all the way here Kouga? It's quite far from your mountain."

"Do I need a reason to come see my wife-to-be?"

Inuyasha snarled, but Kagome silenced him with a look. She had no intention of letting them destroy even more of the village.

"Good puppy" sneered Kouga.

"Kaze-no" Inuyasha found himself unsheathing his sword and attacking simply on reflex, he couldn't have stopped himself even if he wanted to… and he didn't want to.

"Kiz… UMPH!"

"SIT!!" screamed Kagome, with such ferocity that Inuyasha not only sat, but also made a crater in the ground where he was standing seconds before.

Kouga burst out laughing, failing completely to restrain himself as he usually could. That was just_ too_ funny.

"SILENCE!" yelled a furious Kagome. "That was totally your fault; you should feel ashamed of yourself. If you don't have a real reason for being here, then I suggest you leave."

The harshness of her words struck even her; she was not usually one to reprimand, especially not so severely. Kouga, slightly taken aback, quickly regained his composure, since he did have a reason for being there.

"Hai, well, actually, I'm here because you told me to come."

"What?  I did not…"

"Let me explain. Three nights ago, I had a dream, and in it I was told several things.  The first of which, told to me by the loveliest woman I've ever set eyes on," he gazed deliberately at her, "said to come here, and so I came."

Kagome blushed, completely forgetting her earlier anger at Kouga because of his flattery. Inuyasha clawed his way out of the hole, still stunned.

"Baka, you came here because she told you to… in your dream"

"Sit!" UMPH! "Continue Kouga." Said Kagome, not even realizing what she had done.

Ignoring the impulse to fall over laughing, Kouga suppressed a chuckle and continued.

"You were standing here, with the village half destroyed, and you said you had something for me?"

"Kagome, why did… AH!!"

Inuyasha screamed as Kagome "sat" him for the third time, this time he decided to stay down there.

"I have something for you?" said Kagome, completely ignoring Inuyasha.  "I'm sorry Kouga… but I don't have anything for you, even though your dream was almost correct in the other matters.  It's not that often that we are actually here, and," she looked around, "the village does look half destroyed."

"What were the other things that happened in your dream?"

Everyone turned to see Miroku speaking, haven forgotten that he was even there.

"I don't want to discuss the rest of my dream."

"I'm a monk; I have skills in deciphering dreams, from what you told us so far, your dream seems to be a prophesy, it may tell of something yet to happen, if you would only tell me the rest, I could…"

"No"

"It seems I was wrong…  I'll be going now" 

Before she could stop him, Kouga hugged Kagome, and sped off in his whirlwind. 

"Goodbye Kagome."

"Well that was certainly a strange visit…" Sango mused as Inuyasha struggled out of the pit for the third time

"May I get up now?" said a very flustered Inuyasha.

"Oh, sorry Inuyasha, I forgot you were down there."

"Feh…Whatever, its not like I care."

With that, he stamped off into the surrounding wilderness.  Clearly he did care.

"I didn't mean it… I was just trying to stop a fight…"

"Its ok Kagome-chan, he'll be back in time for dinner, he always is."

"Yeah… I guess we'll just have to wait for him than."

"Today's wasted now; I think I'll go home for the rest of the day, if he comes back, you can tell him where I am."

With that, Kagome walked away, looking dejected

_Well… that could have gone better… things always end up awful when he shows up,_ thought Sango to herself, though she didn't voice the opinion. 

"Hey Houshi-sama, lets try and find Inuyasha."

"Hai," said the monk, though he knew Inuyasha would rather be alone. However… perhaps he could get Sango alone with him if they went looking and…

SLAP!!

_Darn wandering hands_.


	2. The Prince and the Groper

Authors Note: Nope! Inuyasha ain't mine, or any of the characters, just this plot.

Review Review Reivew ^_^

  
  


Chapter Two

The Prince and the Groper

"See Sango?" Miroku said as he squeezed the passerby girl's upper regions.  "I," he dodged a slap from the girl and continued, "get nothing from it…however," he did the same to Sango, and made an expression of ecstasy, "with you," he dodged another slap, this time from Sango, "it's like touching heaven."  _I'm getting pretty good at dodging these…_

SLAP!

_Or not._  Sango had hit him with the back of her other hand, yet he could see she was smiling anyway.

"Houshi-sama, I'm not sure if I'm being complimented or defiled, but please keep your hands off, until we're married."  _SHIT!_ She cursed inwardly, not meaning to say the last part out loud.

"Um I mean… Houshi-sama?"

It didn't matter after all; Miroku was completely distracted by another beautiful woman walking past, and hadn't heard a word.

_Am I just not pretty enough to hold his attention for more than a few seconds?_

"Inuyasha sure did pick a good direction to go," said the monk after dodging yet another slap, "I haven't seen anyone this lovely in a long time."  He commented while they continued following Inuyasha's trail.

_I'm right, he thinks I'm ugly._

Not realizing he had said anything wrong, Miroku continued.  "He sure went farther than usual this time; I suppose Kagome really upset him by ignoring him."

_Like you ignore me?_

"I sure wish I had some women this beautiful around all the time."

_Sob…_

"Is something wrong Sango?  You look kind of sad."

_You're an idiot!  _"No, I'm fine… forget it."_ You're so insensitive! Am I really that ugly?_

"Come on Sango, don't pull an Inuyasha on me, tell me what's wrong."

_How could anyone be so dense?_  "Nothings wrong, I'm fine."

"Are you really that upset about me touching you?  Don't hold it against me; it's just in my nature."

_You baka, how would you like being called ugly by the one you… _"No I just haven't been in a great mood today, let's talk about something else."

"Where do you suppose Inuyasha went off to, Houshi-sama?"

"Oh, he's probably brooding somewhere off this trail. I can feel his energy nearby," replied an uninterested Miroku.

"Since when could you do that?" asked Sango, eager to change her thoughts.

"Oh, for a while now, ever since he could perform the Kaze-no-kizu at will, his jyaki sticks out like a hawk among swans."

_Hmm, his monk powers always surprise me, I can barely tell good jyaki from evil jyaki, let alone one youkai's from another's. _"Oh."

They continued down the path for a while, not talking much, and passing few people, none of which were women, probably for the better.

"There, he's nearby," said Miroku suddenly.

"Where?"

"Shh… Listen," came the response from the monk.

They could hear "Kaze-no-kizu" one after another, over and over, in the distance.

"Hmm, how do you suggest we approach him?  I'm afraid he'll attack us if we come near."

"Yeah, I think you might be right, perhaps we should just watch and wait until he stops."

They drew closer to Inuyasha to find him standing in what appeared to be a quarry.  The rocks had been split asunder all around, and he was now standing amongst what looked like the debris of a battle between rock golems. Yet he was not stopping.

"Kaze-no-kizu!"  The rocks flew.   "KAZE-NO-KIZU!"  He was digging his way deeper and deeper into an enormous pit of rock.

"He's going to faint from exhaustion if he keeps this up for much longer," said Miroku with a concerned look in his eyes. "Or worse."

Miroku was clearly right. Inuyasha's breath was coming in staggered gasps; he was dripping with sweat, and his eyes… they were stained red.  Miroku had seen this happen before, twice before actually.  It happened when Inuyasha's youkai form tried to take control.  The only thing holding him back was Tessaiga, which acted as a sort of key, as long as he held it, he would stay the normal Inuyasha they knew.

"We need to stop this before he releases Tessaiga and transforms beyond our help…" said Sango; she too had the terrible memories of Inuyasha's transformations.

_My my, she is brilliant, not too many people would be able to tell the signs meant transformation in this early stage, _thought Miroku to himself.

Then Miroku did something that Sango didn't expect.  Flinging himself from their hiding place, he called down to Inuyasha and, casting back his cloak, he seemed to shine with a brilliant light. 

_So… this is the true power of a monk… he's stunning, too bright to even look at._

"Inuyasha!  Stop!"

Instead of stopping, Inuyasha turned on Miroku, completely unaware that he was attacking his friend.  "Kaze—"  
  
  


Miroku saw what was coming, and reached inside his pouch, grabbing a seal charm.  
  
  


"No—"

Muttering a rapid chant and hurling the charm towards Inuyasha, Miroku started to shine even more.

"Kizu!"

The attack was enormous, much larger than Miroku had planned on; he barely had time to dodge it, however…

"Miroku!" called Sango, completely forgetting how she'd sworn never to use his name. "Miroku, are you OK?"  She came running down into the chasm that had been created by the blast to find…

Inuyasha…. curled up like a baby…

_So, his seal worked, but where…?_

Sango felt the too familiar hand slowly sliding across her…  
  
SLAP!

"Houshi-sama! Here I am, worried about you, and all you can do is…"

"You said my name," said Miroku, with a smile spreading across his face, "I thought it was an invitation."

"Ah!  Stupid monk…"

"Yeah, I'm glad you're ok too," responded Miroku, still smiling like he was a little kid who'd just gotten away with stealing a pie off the windowsill.

"But how did you escape?" asked Sango, her mood lightening to meet his.

"Well, I blinded him, basically, he just missed me."

"Yeah, I've never seen anything like that before, it was amazing!"

"Oh the light?  Na… that's just a parlor trick, any monk could do that. You just have to be protecting someone you care about." dismissed Miroku.

"Oh…" said Sango, blushing. _Was he protecting me?_

"Now what, we can't really move Inuyasha like this… and that seal I put on him won't wear off for a while," though Miroku out loud.

As if in answer to his inquiry, Inuyasha stirred.

"Seems your seal wasn't as powerful as you thought it was," laughed Sango "Oh he's going to just _love_ you when he wakes up."


	3. No Outlet

**Authors Note:  I most defiantly do not own a single Inuyasha Character, just this story and plot.  Thank you for all those five of you who reviewed!**

**Lol, that's such a small number, but every bit helps.**

**Special thanks to Emeraldfire8, my good friend, for all her help and support in writing this fiction. ^_^**

Now…  I did my part, you should know yours:  REVIEW! 

Chapter Three

No Outlet

_Inuyasha?_

_"Inuyasha, I'm sorry! I didn't really mean it!"_

_            "I hate you…"_

_"Wha… what?"_

_            "Go home! Never come back!"_

_"No… please… no…  Inuyasha!  No… don't go… I'm sorry… I didn't… I would never…I…  I…"_

_            "You think I can't tell?  You think I don't see the way you get around him…"_

_"But…  he's just… a friend… not like…us!"_

_            "I Hate You, Kagome!_

_I'm…  "How could I?"   crying… "Can't you tell?" I…  "I would never…"  I love you, not him… "He's…" no!  "just friends…"_

_            "Go home!"_

_***_

Kagome awoke from her nightmare to find herself safe in her room, drenched in sweat and tears.

Trying to piece together the fragments of her dream with her troubled memories, Kagome thought.

_It was just a dream… right?_

Bursting into fresh tears, she continued.

_No! It wasn't just a dream…  He really does hate me.  He hates me and it's all my fault!_

***

"Did you see the way she was crying?  She didn't even say "Hi mom."  She just ran off to her room crying.  I don't want to watch my daughter cry!  This isn't the first time either.  No, this happens every time!  I've tried to be patient.  I've tried to be a loving mother, and stand on the sidelines.  But… if she's going to lock me out of her room at yell at me when I try and ask her what's wrong…  I've had just about enough of this."

A concerned and slightly frantic Mrs. Higurashi paced around her living room while Grandpa tried to calm her down.

"Calm down dear… it will be ok."

"I'm tired of my only daughter coming home in tears.  I don't want to have to see her in pain again!"

"This doesn't happen that often…" Grandpa said, as he watched his daughter burning a hole in the floor.

"Once _is_ too often!" raged Mrs. Higurashi, turning her anger upon a cowering Grandpa.

Pleased that she now had somewhere to vent, Mrs. Higurashi continued.

"And what gives you the right to tell me how to raise my own child?"

Slightly taken aback, Grandpa replied, "You sure have become very westernized.  When I was raised, women were taught to respect both men and their elders; and seeing as how I am both your father and Kagome's grandfather, I'd believe my opinion mattered to you!"

"I'm so sorry Daddy!" said Mrs. Higurashi, as she ran over and hugged her father, in tears.  "I just don't want to see my little girl get hurt."

"It will be OK child… Kagome is a strong girl; she will be able to get through this.  Perhaps you should just let her try."

***

Once again, Inuyasha found himself waking up from a sleep covered in sweat.

_How did I fall asleep?  It's still the middle of the day…  And where am I?_

Suddenly the memory of him being attacked by a white light came to mind, and he realized he was being watched.  Grabbing Tessaiga, Inuyasha decided he would surprise whoever was watching him.  He tensed his muscles, tried to do a black flip, and fell on his face.

"SHIT!" he screamed, which made those watching him laugh.

"Sore?" said a mocking voice Inuyasha could easily recognize.

"Miroku you bas…"  
  


"Oh leave him alone, he did stop you from killing yourself you know," interrupted Sango before Inuyasha could finish.

"Killing myself?  What do you mean, woman?  Why would I ever kill myself?"

"Look around you!" shouted Miroku, "You did this, all of it."

"You were starting to change Inuyasha… If Miroku hadn't stopped you, you would have become a full youkai, completely out of control, and it would have lead to your own destruction."

As Inuyasha looked around, the memory of all he had done set in.

Kagome… 

"This is her fault! Not mine!  If she had just…" what_ was it really that set me off? _"She should have…" she_ really didn't do anything._  "Will you two stop staring at me like that!"

***

"Kagome darling, we're having dinner, and we would like you to join us."

"Thanks mom, but I'm fine."  _ I thought Inuyasha would have come and gotten me by now.  He always comes back by dinner._

"Kagome. We want you to eat with us.  Now please."

A couple of minutes later they were all seated around the table.

"Thank you dear."

"Yeah…"

After about fifteen minutes of eating in silence, Mrs. Higurashi decided it was time to speak what was on her mind.

"Kagome… We've decided that you won't be going back to the feudal era," she said as quickly as she could so Kagome couldn't stop her.

"What!?" shrieked Kagome, completely surprised by this decision.  "No! Why? That's unfair!  How come?"

What do you mean "we" decided? I thought we decided to let Kagome deal with this herself.  Not cut her off from it completely.  Thought Grandpa to himself, but decided it would be better to raise the issue later.

"Well… your grades in school haven't been doing to well, and I… we thought that you would need good grades."  
  


"Bullshit! Since when have my grades been a reason for you to do anything?"

Souta jumped, surprised to hear his sister curse at his mom like that.  
  


"I suppose you picked up language like that from him didn't you!" said Mrs. Higurashi, in a voice as shocked as Souta looked.

"So this is about him!  Isn't it?"  I can't believe her… get out of my life… what I do with my time is none of your business. 

"Well… yes it is," said Mrs. Higurashi in defeat, "and I don't want to have to watch my daughter come home crying, or bleeding, or in pain, or worse ever again!"

She continued on, working herself more and more into a fit as she went.

"He's nothing but a bad influence!  You're always coming home asking for bandages, or first aid supplies, saying that your "friends" got hurt.  Why would I want to let my daughter go to a terrible place like that and be with such reckless, dangerous, insensitive, awful, terrible, mean, cruel… things!"  
  


"They are not!" Well maybe reckless, and dangerous, and maybe even insensitive… but never awful, terrible, mean, or cruel.  

"They are my friends! They are not things!"

"You're not going back, and that's final."

"I hate you mom!" yelled Kagome, and she ran off to her room.

"Um… mom? Can I go?" came a very scared voice from Souta.

"No, you didn't finish your food!" yelled Mrs. Higurashi, sending him back to his plate in silence.  
  


"You can go Souta," came a voice that hadn't spoken the entire meal.

"Dad, he hasn't finished yet!" argued Mrs. Higurashi, trying to hold back the tears.

"Go Souta, your foods fine," repeated Grandpa.

"We need to talk child," he said once Souta had left.

***

"Are you too sore to walk?" said Miroku as he watched Inuyasha stand up.  "If not I'd like to head back, it's getting late."

"Haven't you learned anything about me yet?" growled Inuyasha, ignoring the pain in caused by moving.  _Damn, I don't think I've ever hurt myself this much.  _"Daemon's heal much faster than humans do."

"You're lying," stated Sango as she whacked him in the back with Hiraikotsu, causing him to fall over again in pain.

"Bitch…  Fine. Then I guess we're waiting here for a while"__

"Fine. Then you need to tell us what all that," Miroku waved his staff towards the chasm in the ground behind them, "was about."

"…"

"Miroku… did you say you could interpret dreams?" Inuyasha asked finally.


	4. Enter the Wolf

Authors Note:  No Inuyasha Characters belong to me!  ZERO! SQUELCH!  However… this story does belong to me!  100%!

^_^

Reviewers rock!

Um, I would give a shout-out to whoever anonymous is, but they are anonymous.  Please put a screen name or something of some sort so I can get back to you, because it was your review that inspired me to write the next chapter… I thought no one was reading it.

Anyway, the usual thanks to Emeraldfire8… you rock Dana!!

And also to animeluvr8, don't worry, there will be more about the fight between the Higurashi's, it will all make sense eventually.

Now…  here's the drill, we're getting better at it…

Step 1) I write a new chapter

Step 2) Loads of people come and read my new chapter

Step 3) The loads of people leave nice long reviews for me to get inspired by…

Even a short review is nice, for instance Anon's review, but please don't review this anonymously…

That is all… until next time, ciao.

Chapter Four

Enter The Wolf

_Kouga-kun, come here, I have something for you._

_            I'm here, Kagome… what is it?_

_Kouga-kun… please come here, I have something for you._

_            I'm right here!  What do you want?_

_Kouga-kun… where are you, Kouga-kun?_

_            Damn it, woman! I'm right in front of you!_

_Kouga… Come here… I need you… _

***

"Um… Kouga?  Could you please let me go…?"

Kouga found himself being roughly shaken from his sleep by his friend and follower, Ginta. That's when he realized he had a strangle hold on Ginta's neck.

"Oh… sorry… Ginta."

"You were having that dream again, weren't you, Kouga?" Ginta massaged his bruised neck.

"Yeah… I really thought they would go away once I went to see Kagome, but I'm still having them."

"At least you don't need to sleep very often."

"That's just the thing… I'm falling asleep almost every time I close my eyes.  It's starting to really worry me.  If it keeps up, one of my enemies will catch me with my guard down, as you just did."

"Heh, well, I wouldn't say your guard was down," Ginta laughed as he gestured to his neck.

***

"Well, Inuyasha?  We're ready to listen. Are you or are you not going to tell us what your dream was about?" Sango asked in an unusually tense voice as she watched Inuyasha fidget.

_There's nothing worse than a fidgety hanyou.  I have to stay on my guard.  In case… that happens again… _she thought to herself.

"I think… I'm fine. Never mind what happened earlier; we can go back now."

"Inuyasha, there's no point in lying about it. Besides, from the way Sango looks, you won't be fine in a few seconds unless you start talking," joked Miroku with a pleading look.

"Dammit… fine." Inuyasha exhaled in defeat and started.  "Well, there were two dreams. Kagome was in both of them …  and she was crying."

The horror of dreams began to set in again on Inuyasha; he reached to grab Tessaiga, but quickly restrained himself.

Sango noticed the move towards the sword and then commented,  "And you went on a self-destructive rampage just because of two dreams with Kagome crying?"

"I wasn't finished!" he exclaimed. "But if you don't want to know the rest, that's fine with me!"

"Oh, calm down, both of you. Since when do I have to be the voice of reason? That job usually falls to you, Sango."

She laughed and eased up a bit.

_This is Inuyasha… my friend. He's not going to try and kill us; that other Inuyasha is gone now, _she reassured herself, gesturing apologetically for Inuyasha to continue.

"Keh. Well, anyway… in the first dream, Kagome eventually turned into Naraku…and I called out, yelling at him.  I asked him what he did with Kagome… but…. he just stood there, smiling evilly. I thought… he'd killed her."

"And?"

"Then I woke up and went to talk to Kagome about it."  Inuyasha was too embarrassed to tell them that he had been calling out for her in his sleep.

"Kouga was in the second dream," Inuyasha growled as he said the name of his rival, "and Kagome was with Kouga. Then he turned into Naraku, and he was too close to Kagome… and I attacked…" Again, Inuyasha was too embarrassed to mention that Kagome was holding Kouga, but he didn't think it was important anyway.

"Now really, Inuyasha, how hard was that?"  Sango stated in the tone of a mother who'd just given her child medicine.

"Baka, how 'bout you tell us about _your_ dreams, eh? 'How hard is that.'  I'd bet your dreams are more interesting than mine anyway." Inuyasha pointed to Miroku. "They're probably chock full of that Houshi over there." 

At that Sango blushed, but Inuyasha continued.

"Anyway, who asked you?  I wanted Miroku to interpret my dream, not you."

***

"Ginta, tell the tribe I'm not to be disturbed for the rest of the day, and that includes you.  If I need something, I'll send Hakkaku out to tell you. You're in charge of the tribe until I return."

With that, Kouga sealed the entrance to the rooms of the wolf pack's cave, leaving the whole tribe in the open area behind the waterfall.

"There has to be something here I haven't discovered yet," Kouga muttered to Hakkaku.

"Can I ask what we're looking for?"

"That's the problem. I'm not sure… something old left to me by my father."

  
Kouga and Hakkaku wandered around the inner chambers of the wolf den. The same cave had once belonged to Kouga's sire, and his grandsire, and his sire's grandsire, and so on.  The den was far older than the oldest of the youkai in Kouga's tribe.  There were secrets to these chambers that spanned generations.

Kouga meant to find one.

"Kouga, there's nothing here.  We've lived here for years and years. What could possibly be hidden?"

"Quit complaining. If you don't want to help, then leave."

They wandered farther and farther back into the den, which had now become more of a tunnel. 

"This is the nursery, right?" asked Kouga, as he wondered why he never bothered to explore back here before.

"Yeah, and it's also a dead end. See, Kouga, I told you there's nothing here."

Kouga spun around, scaring Hakkaku.

"And I told you to quit complaining!" Kouga gave him a swift kick to reinforce his point.  "I know there's something in here," Kouga murmured, inhaling quickly through his nose. "I can smell a different type of air."

Hakkaku sniffed as well and replied. "Yes, you're right, I can smell it too. I wonder why nobody has noticed it before."

"Of course I'm right, baka, and just think where we are. Who would be able to smell the faint odor of stale air in the nursery?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Now help me find the source."

The two wolf youkai scoured the nursery in search of the old air.  After about an hour of looking, Kouga began to grow impatient.

"Where is it coming from?" he growled, angrily looking around the nursery yet another time.

"Let's give up. There's nothing here, Kouga."

"For the last time!" Kouga barked. "Quit! Complaining!"  Kouga shoved Hakkaku into the nearest wall, and, to his great surprise, part of the wall gave way.

"See! There it is, and you were ready to quit," said Kouga triumphantly as he began to tear down the rest of the wall.  Hakkaku followed suit and helped to clear the wall.  In a few minutes the wall was completely down, and a new passage was exposed.

At the end of the passage was a stone door that had clearly been shut for years.

"You can go back now and tell the tribe they can come in.  From here on I go alone. If I don't come out within a few days, then come look for me," said Kouga in such a somber tone that Hakkaku was scared. "Don't worry about me, I'll be back by tomorrow," he added, seeing his concern.

"Kouga… why are you doing all this? How did you even know this room was here?  I'm going to have to tell the tribe _something_. They will worry."

"Tell them someone in a dream said to come here… that's all I can say."

***

"Well, I definitely don't think they were normal dreams if you could remember them so vividly," said Miroku in the scholarly tone he often used when he exorcised a house.

"Of course they weren't normal dreams…  It was as if they were real.  I could smell Kagome; I could feel Naraku's jyaki. I was there in the dreams," Inuyasha muttered, getting caught up in the emotion of his memories again.

_It's so unusual for Inuyasha to show this much emotion. Those dreams must have been very painful to him, even more than he told us,_ thought Sango, wishing she had not been so aggressive towards Inuyasha earlier.

Miroku inhaled deeply, snapping Inuyasha's attention back to the present. Miroku declared, "Well, I don't really think the dreams are too much to worry about.  They seem to be premonitions of a fight with Naraku, which we all expected would happen anyway, and all the rest of the dreams could easily just be results of a battle.  Kagome crying, for instance: she could be injured, or one of us could be injured."

"Kagome!  Injured!  What do you mean that's not something to worry about?!?" barked Inuyasha defensively.

"Funny, I remember you saying earlier that you didn't care about Kagome," Inuyasha turned red, "and besides, I said not to _worry_. I didn't say not to think about it.  We need to be prepared for the battle; we always need to be prepared, but worrying won't help anyone," Miroku concluded with a smug look.

"Now, I understand why you were frustrated, Inuyasha, but you can't let your frustration control you.  You nearly killed yourself over there, and you almost killed us, too," said Sango in that motherly tone that drove Inuyasha crazy, but he chose to let it go this time.

"Feh. I know, you don't need to tell me that… It won't happen again, trust me."

"By the way, Inuyasha…how are you feeling?  It's almost morning. Do you think we could head back now?"

Inuyasha stood up and stretched.

"Feeling?  I'm feeling fine. I've been fully healed for about 4 hours now."

"Damn cocky daemons," muttered Sango loud enough so both boys would hear her, and they all laughed.

The three friends headed back towards Kaede-baba's village in much better spirits than they left.


	5. A Girl’s Broken Heart

Authors Note: Inuyasha does not belong to me.

I almost gave up on writing this fic because nobody reviewed it… then gatogirl1 came and stopped me.  So I shall devote this author's note in answering her questions.

Ok, Inuyasha never said he hated Kagome in actuality, but she dreamt he had.  Her mind is in such disarray after their fight that she's imagining things that didn't happen.  Jyaki is the Japanese word for evil energy.  It refers to the aura given off by daemons.  I've taken a little bit of liberty in saying that there is good bad Jyaki, but that's ok by me. ^^

Um, no I'm not writing this after the Sango / Miroku episode because I don't feel like dealing with Hakudoushi, but I am keeping that episode in mind, just kind of pushing it a bit earlier in the series.

(For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, don't fret, it will all make sense once they dub some more Japanese episodes.)

Hehe, please don't kill me for this, but I really don't like Kouga.  I actually started out writing this fic as a joke so I could have him commit suicide, and then I got attached to it and couldn't do something that stupid.  So don't worry, no Kouga suicides. ^_^ (but I still hate him… always trying to steal Kagome from Inuyasha, what's he thinking??)

So… thanks to gatogirl1 for proving that people do read this; the same for SoraLoverKH2.

Thanks to Emeraldfire8 for all around rocking, because Dana is just that cool. ^_^

Hopefully I'll put out the next chapter sooner than this one, until then…

Please review!

Please!!!! *Begs*

PWEASE!!!!

Chapter Five

A Girl's Broken Heart

"Do you remember what it was like when your husband died?  Do you remember how you felt?" asked Grandpa tenderly.

No answer.

"Well, I remember. You were destroyed; you were in tears for weeks on end.  That's the reason I moved back in, I had to take care of my daughter again.  Now I want you to think about what you are doing to Kagome.  She loves him; she's willing to go through the pain just to be with him, and you are taking him away from her, just like your husband was taken away from you…"

This last comment put Mrs. Higurashi in tears.

"You're" _sob_ "right." _sob _"I've been a terr-" _sob_ "-ible mother…"  _sob__ sob_

"No you haven't, you were trying to do what you thought was best for her. Your aim was good, but sometimes a parent's judgments can simply be wrong.  Now let's cheer up dear, all this being serious is strange for me."

Mrs. Higurashi smiled a bit, thinking about her father, the aged historian who thought he could battle daemons with his seals.

"You're right of course. I don't know what I've been doing…" Mrs. Higurashi wiped the tears from her eyes and continued, "I'm going to go talk to Kagome, if she will let me in… she's locked herself in her room all day.   I'll tell her… that… she can keep going back to the feudal era."

***

"Kagome?  Kagome dear… may I come in?"

"Why… what do you want?  Have you come to take away something else?"

Mrs. Higurashi opened the door, which to her surprise had been unlocked, to find a tearstained Kagome sitting on her bed.

"Oh, Kagome, I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to hurt you like this.  I really thought I was doing what was best for you… but I was wrong."

Mrs. Higurashi walked over and embraced Kagome.

"You can go back; I'm not stopping you anymore.  But dear, I really want to know what else was wrong?"

"…Mom…" Kagome clutched at her mother tighter, and burst into fresh tears.

"What happened, dear?"

"Mom…  I made him run away… He hates me now…"

"Why? What happened?" said Mrs. Higurashi, trying to show all the care and concern she possibly could.

Kagome proceeded to tell her the whole story of that morning, and how Inuyasha said he didn't care about her, and had run off.

"You love him very much don't you…" asked Mrs. Higurashi.

"…Ye… ye… yes… yes, I…"

Kagome struggled for the willpower to say how she felt.

"I love him!

She paused, and, slowly, her face fell, with new, fresh tears, coming to her eyes.

"But he doesn't see it."

"Oh, I think he sees it, otherwise he wouldn't have been so hurt by you ignoring him."

"…but… he said he didn't care…"

***

"So… We were left behind again…"

            "Pyo!"

"Yeah, I know Miroku told us to stay behind and guard the village, but he really just didn't want us to come."

            "Pyu…"

"I bet they are all out there having fun without us.  Well, it's not like I need them anyway!  Hmph, I'll show them all!  Leaving me behind like this.  The great Shippo, I _am_ the only reason we ever get anything done after all.  You want to help me get back at them, right, Kirara?"

"Pyo?"

"Oh, this will be fun! Hehehe."

***

"Ah, we're finally back!" shouted Miroku, obviously relieved. "I'm starving!  You _had_ to go so far away, Inuyasha…"

Nudging Miroku in the ribs, Sango retorted, "Well, if someone hadn't kept stopping to look at the sights…"

"Look at the sights? I have no idea what you mean," replied Miroku with a look of angelic innocence.

"She doesn't mean the landscape Miroku; she means you kept stopping to look at the wo-mmmph!"  Miroku quickly covered Inuyasha's mouth, trying not to see the glowering look from Sango.

_Inuyasha, you are so oblivious…_

Suddenly Kagome came running, and grabbed Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha! Oh Inuyasha, I'm so sorry I did that to you.  Can you ever forgive me?"

Completely taken aback by the sudden appearance of this crying Kagome clinging to his chest, Inuyasha had no idea how to respond.   "Um…  It's ok Kagome, please stop crying…  Um… I'm just glad you…" sniff… "are…" sniff… sniff…  
  


"Shippo!!"

Thud!

With a poof, Shippo transformed back to normal and lay knocked out on the ground by the force of Inuyasha's punch.

***

Back in Kaede-baba's hut, Inuyasha and the others were eating a meal prepared by Kaede.

"And for you Inuyasha, I have some ramen noodles, just like the ones Kagome always makes you."

Inuyasha reached over and grabbed the bowl of ramen out of Kaede's hands while she was still speaking, and promptly began to shovel it down.

"Inuyasha!  You pig!"  yelled Sango in disgust.

"Dog!  Get it right, bitch," snorted Inuyasha through mouthfuls of ramen.

"Hmmph, and he wonders why Kagome doesn't like him,"  Sango retorted.

"What?  What did I do?" asked Inuyasha in an honest voice that seemed unfit for him. "Why doesn't she like me?"

"Like I'd tell you now…"

_I'll let his little mind stew for a while; this is too much fun, _thought Sango to herself__

Inuyasha got up and walked over to Sango with a confused look on his face, "What did I do?"

"Not telling" said Sango as she tried to repress a chuckle. _I can't believe how simple manners are such a mystery to him._

"Say, Shippo. Want to bet on how long before Inuyasha storms out?" asked Miroku, making Shippo burst out laughing.

"What kind of monk are you, Houshi-sama??" asked Sango mockingly. "Betting on a poor little doggy.  That's awful."

By this point most everyone in the hut was laughing, except Inuyasha, who had just realized that they were making fun of him.

"Oh I get it, that's just hilarious!" Inuyasha said angrily.

He considered leaving but didn't want to prove them right.  So instead, he went back to his spot, sat down, and to everyone's surprise thanked Kaede for the ramen.

_Ha! They weren't expecting that!_

After a few minutes of everybody eating, Inuyasha broke the silence again.

"So where is Kagome?"

"She… went back home after you ran away."

"But that was yesterday morning! She should be back by now."  
  
"Well duh, Inuyasha," said Shippo, always one to voice the obvious. "She's clearly still mad at you.  If you weren't such a jerk..."  
  
"I am not a jerk!"

"Oh lay off Shippo, Inuyasha's been through a lot too lately," said Miroku in a consoling tone. "It's not like this is _entirely_ his fault."

"Thanks a lot, Miroku." came the sarcastic reply from Inuyasha. "That makes me feel so much better.   I think I'm going to… go for a walk."

"We all know you're going to see her, Inuyasha!" yelled Shippo after Inuyasha's retreating form.

The only reply was silence, and then a rock that left Shippo with a large lump on his head.

"Well, you sure earned that one, Shippo."

Everyone in the hut laughed as Shippo rubbed his head.

***

"Goodnight mom… and… thank you.  I'm sorry for earlier.  I love you."

"I love you too Kagome. I'll always be here for you."

"Thanks mom, that really means a lot to me. I think I'm gonna go to sleep, and I'll head back tomorrow."

"Ok, I hope you sleep well tonight."

With that Mrs. Higurashi left Kagome's room and closed the door.

Kagome, feeling drained from all the events of the past two days, promptly got in bed and fell asleep.

***

"Damnit…" The lone curse came from a tree branch outside Kagome's window.  Inuyasha was sitting out there on a limb. Not feeling ok with coming inside with Kagome's mom in there, he had waited for almost an hour on the tree.

_Her mom finally leaves and then she falls asleep.  Well, I'm not going back now that I'm here.  I might as well go in._

A smile spread across Inuyasha's face as he convinced himself to go inside Kagome's room.

_She looks even better while she's sleeping._

Inuyasha opened the window and climbed inside the room.

_Ah, this room is so full of Kagome's smell.  I don't think I'll ever leave._

Forgetting to close the window, Inuyasha went over to Kagome.  He just stood there for a while, breathing in Kagome's scent.

_Oh man… she smells so good… and… now that I'm this close to her…Wow, she's really pretty.  I think I could stand here forever._

After a while Inuyasha realized what would happen to him if she woke up, or her mom came him, with him staring at her, almost naked, sleeping on her bed.

_Hmm, maybe I should go back after all.  There's no reason for me to stay here…  But… I don't want to leave._

Deciding the results would be worth it, Inuyasha continued watching her.

_Hmm, it's really cold in here, and she's not wearing much more than a shirt.  She must be really cold…_

Inuyasha got closer, and saw that Kagome was in fact shivering quite a lot.

_Damnit… Why didn't I notice this earlier?  Oh!  I'm an idiot, I left the window open._

Inuyasha ran over and closed the window, but Kagome didn't stop shivering.

_Ugg__… What should I do?_

He knew what he would like to do, but he wasn't sure if he'd survive the "sits" if he lay down with her.

Looking around the room, Inuyasha found a blanket, and decided it was wiser, or at least safer for himself, to put that over her.

_I guess I'll just go to sleep, and talk to her in the morning. Nothing's going to happen here._

After convincing himself that it was ok to sleep, Inuyasha sat on the floor, rested his head against Kagome's bed, and fell asleep.

***

_Inuyasha?___

_"Inuyasha, I'm sorry! I didn't really mean it!"_

_            "I hate you…"_

_"Wha… what?"___

_            "Go home! Never come back!"_

_"No..."_

_            "I hate you Kagome!"_

_"No!  This isn't true! This didn't happen!!!! You aren't Inuyasha! You're a dream!! I… I love Inuyasha!  And… and… He loves me too!"_

***

Kagome woke from her nightmare to find Inuyasha sleeping on the floor.

Stopping herself from screaming, she looked around the room, still regaining composure.

_It was a dream…  It was a dream…  Then… What is this?  Inuyasha wasn't here…  Well, If this is a dream…_

Kagome got off her bed and wrapped herself around Inuyasha.

_If this  is a dream… then it is a good one._


	6. Frozen

**Author's note: blah blah ect...**

**and**** now, without further adue:**

Chapter Six

Frozen

Inuyasha awoke to find Kagome curled around him and the full Shikon no tama mysteriously beside him.

_I don't ever want this to end..._

Summoning his courage, Inuyasha slowly bent down, and, lowering his face to Kagome's, placed a light kiss on her lips.

Kagome stirred in her sleep, but did not awaken, and Inuyasha, not quite sure if he wanted her to awaken or not, began to kiss her more deeply.

The room began to glow, a deep magenta, and pulsate with soothing energies emanating from the Shikon no tama.  Slowly, Kagome awakened, to find herself lip locked with Inuyasha.

"Wha... what???"

To Inuyasha's surprise, Kagome pushed away.

"Kagome… there's something I need to tell you…  I'm sorry for the fight yesterday morning…  I… I really do care about you.  No… No that's not it...  Kagome, I love you!"  
  
Kagome was completely taken aback by this sudden display of emotion, and, not knowing how to respond, she simply hugged Inuyasha to her, and kissed him again.

Again, she broke apart, this time to say, "I was so afraid that you hated me… after our last fight.  I love you too Inuyasha… I always have… I just… wouldn't say anything.  I always thought you didn't think about me.  That it was all about Kikyo.  So I kept my feelings from everyone, even myself."

"Kagome… I'm so sorry I made you worry…  I'll never do it again.  I'll never leave you again," and Inuyasha, never wanting to leave her again, placed one last kiss on her lips, and, taking the Shikon no tama, made a wish that they be frozen together in time, forever in each others arms.  
  
The Shikon shard glowed more violently, and then let out a burst of white light.

After the light drained from the room, Inuyasha and Kagome were no more.  In there place was a stone statue.  Inuyasha's wish came true; he and Kagome would be locked in an eternal kiss.

***

Kagome started from her sleep, to find it had been yet another dream.  
  
_Why am I having all these strange dreams?  Well, that last one wasn't too bad…  Hmm, I don't think I've ever seen Inuyasha look so peaceful.  Would it be terrible if part of my dream came true?_

After debating with herself, Kagome decided to go for it, and, slowly, she lowered her mouth to Inuyasha's, and kissed him.

  
**More author's note: Hehe, sorry for the short chapter guys, I promise the next one will be out soon, I just couldn't justify putting these two chapters into one.  Thanx too everybody who reviewed my fic so far, and please… don't kill me for the opening… It was a dream… JUST a dream!  Oh, one last thing, for those of you who feel like looking, I added a paragraph to the beginning of chapter three, it should clear up a lot of comments I've been getting about Kagome's first dream.**


	7. A Miko with a Message

**Authors Note: Well, here's the chapter I promised I'd have quickly, and I think this was relatively fast. My pardons to animeluvr8 for the dreams, I'm considering scraping the last chapter, it wasn't necessary, and didn't really add to the plot. Well give me your opinion. I just liked the fluff, and besides, you should have been able to tell it was a dream… I mean I put "Inuyasha awoke to find Kagome curled around him and the full Shikon no tama mysteriously beside him." I'm not going to ruin my fic by having the Shikon no tama just… show up. **

**I'm kinda hesitant to scrap the chapter though. I like what happened, and I love dreams. You may hate them by now, but I can never remember my dreams, only that they were good. I guess dreams are a way to escape. So I write dreams the same way, that last dream especially. It was just Kagome seeking an escape. Searching for what she didn't have in her subconscious.**

**Anywho, I promise this chapter will make all the dreams make sense! (I hope.)**

**Thanx to Dana for her input/revisions and to gatogirl1 for her great help/encouragement.**** Haha, and yeah, I was wondering when people would realize I'm a guy. Haha, you seriously crack me up gatogirl1… "HOLD THE PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!! You're a guy???? I didn't know any guys wrote fanfiction!!?!!"**

**That just about made my week. Well that's all for now.**

**Read and review!!! PWEASE!!!!**

Chapter Seven

A Miko with a Message 

Kouga walked up to the stone door that had long been sealed shut, and began to study it. 

_Hmm, this door doesn't seem to have been opened my entire life. I wonder how I will manage to get it open._

After studying the door for a little while, Kouga found a small crack on the right side. The crack was just the right size for one of his claws to fit in, so, Kouga inserted his claw and pulled. 

To his great surprise the door slid open easily. 

Kouga took this as a good sign and cautiously entered. 

He stepped into the room and looked around while the stone door quietly swung closed behind him, emanating only a soft "clink" when it was shut. 

"Shit!" Kouga exclaimed, leaping back to the door, trying, and failing, to keep it from shutting. 

"Well great, now I'm stuck in here," said Kouga as he continued to try and force the door back open. 

Giving up, Kouga now took notice of his surroundings. 

In the center of the floor there was a large stone coffin, with the picture of a wolf carved into a stone at the head of the coffin. 

_Oh great… not only am I stuck, but I'm stuck in a tomb._

As Kouga walked around the room, he got an eerie feeling that made all the fur stand up on his tail. 

_This… is my father's tomb._ Kouga was knocked to his knees by the realization of where he was. 

Tears started to come into the eyes of the wolf prince, but he held them back, and suddenly he spoke to the air around him, "Father, why have you brought me here?" as if he expected the stone room to answer him. 

When nothing replied, Kouga just continued to kneel there, until he eventually drifted off into a confused sleep. 

*** 

"Father? Is that you?" 

"Yes, it's me Kouga, the father you've never met." 

"That's fine dad, you're here now right? Oh, I'm so glad to see you! There's so much I want to tell you, about the tribe, and our den, and… everything!" 

Kouga ran over and hugged his father, barely able to hold back the tears welling up in his eyes. 

"But how are you here?" asked Kouga, suddenly realizing the impossibility of the current events, "Oh…" Kouga's expression turned downcast. "This is another dream isn't it? You're not really here." 

"Yes, it's a dream. I knew you'd be the first to figure things out Kouga, you're smart, just like me." 

"Why!" yelled Kouga, suddenly pushing away from his father, "Why have you been plaguing me with dreams? And what do you mean the first? There are others? Who else have you been tormenting? Explain yourself!" 

"Ah Kouga… I was afraid you'd take it like this. You may be smart, but you're also obstinate," Kouga's father continued with a chuckle, "again like me." 

"…" 

"But you are right of course, I will tell you everything. Or at least, everything I can," Kouga's father replaced his expression with a serious, almost saddened one, and began. "Before you were born, there was a prophecy made about you. The prophecy was made by a powerful Miko, named Kikyo." 

Kouga let out a strange noise at the utterance of her name, the miko he had learned of from Kagome, but did not say anything. 

"Ah, so you have heard of her? Well I'm not surprised, since she has a way of being found. Anyway, the prophecy was, this, 'Your son will replace you before he can even remember you, but the next time you see me, he will have to make a choice, either to end your tribe, or destroy the world.' And then she gave me a sword, saying 'he will use this when the time comes.' 

Kouga seemed shocked by all of what he was hearing, and then suddenly he remembered his only inheritance from his father: a single sword, with a message that read "Don't use it until the time comes." 

"You don't mean to say that this sword," gesturing the sword at his side, "is…" 

"Yes, the very same." 

"But it's just a sword… I've never even bothered to use it. I just keep it with me, because… It makes me think you are with me." 

"Well… I didn't know what it was for, or what her prophecy meant, but I believed her, because Mikos don't lie. And so, I passed the sword on to you." Pausing, his father pondered what he was going to say. "However, I always felt that there must have been a mistake in her prophecies, because how could you replace me unless I was dead, and how could I see her again once dead?"

Kouga thought about it for a few moments and determined, "It's impossible." 

"Exactly what I thought… however, her first prophecy came true. I did die, and you replaced me before you knew me. I was almost expecting her to show up right before I died, but she never did, so I died thinking everything was fine." 

"I don't get it. What does any of this have to do with my— no, you said there were others— our dreams?" 

"I'm getting there. Well as you must have figured out, dying is not the end. Far from it, in fact. There are whole other worlds after death, and that is where I am, and… where I met her again." 

"What?!?" At this Kouga looked completely confused, and he wondered for a minute if this was in fact not simply a dream. 

"This is not just a dream, Kouga!" shouted Kouga's father. "I'm here to warn you. The time is coming. You will have to decide. You will have to choose… I can't tell you much more, but I know one thing. Kikyo is dead— Naraku killed her, and he will force you to choose. She told me this, and this is why I have been sending you dreams." 

Kouga sat down, trying to understand what he was being told. It seemed too much to comprehend. 

_Can my father really be here, talking to me in my dream, about something a dead miko told him would happen in my future?_

"If this is all true, why didn't you just tell me before? It seems you have no problem communicating with the living." 

"Well, I tried, but it didn't work. You were too far away; I couldn't reach your mind. All I could get across were images. As for the other, well I tried sending a message to Inuyasha as well, whom I learned of from Kikyo." 

"So crap breath is involved in this too? Well, I guess he would be, it involves Kikyo." 

"Yes, Inuyasha is involved, but he was even harder to reach than you. So I gave up with him. But it wasn't until you actually came to my grave that I was able to finally meet with you, not just convey thoughts to you. I needed to warn you, to warn you both, of what is coming. She has shown me two futures, though which one will happen depends upon you. But be ready to make the choice." 

With that Kouga's father's face fell, replacing his old look with a completely sorrowful one. 

"Goodbye, Kouga, I know you will make the right choice." 

"Wait! You never told me what choice I have to make!" Kouga shouted out as his father slowly disappeared into a void of darkness. "There's still so much I want to tell you… Don't go!" 

"You will know what it is… when it is time. I can't make the choice for you." 

With one last goodbye, Kouga's father disappeared completely, leaving Kouga alone. 

Suddenly Kouga heard another voice calling his name. 

*** 

"Kouga! Wake up!"   
  
  
  
Hakkaku and Ginta were both yelling at Kouga, trying to get him to awaken, when suddenly, to their great surprise, he did. 

"…Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" 

Ginta looked down guiltily at his paws, and said, "Yes, but you were gone for two days, and the pack was getting worried." 

"Two days! I've been gone for about 20 minutes!" Kouga exclaimed in shock. 

"No, it's been two days; we haven't heard anything from you since I left you in that room yesterday morning." 

"Yes, eventually some of us went to look to see what had happened, and we found the door sealed shut, we had to break it down." Here Hakkaku whimpered, holding a damaged paw up for Kouga to see. 

"When we finally got through, we found you unconscious, lying on the floor, by a grave." 

"So it's been two days…" 

Kouga looked around to see that he was actually lying in his own room now, not in his father's grave, and he realized how much he must have scared his tribe. 

"Well, it's all ok now," Kouga said with a smile, "and thank you for breaking down the door; you saved me a lot of digging." He laughed to prove he was all right. 

"So what happened in there?" asked Ginta, unable to suppress his curiosity any longer. 

"Well, it's a long story… but… well, that was my father's grave and… lets say he came to visit me."


	8. Under a Different Sky

**Authors Note:  I dedicate this chapter to Dana… because she is on vacation and I miss her.**

**Thank you all for your wonderful reviews of late.  I appreciate all the feedback I am receiving.  Please continue the reviews so I may continue the writing.**

**(Author got bored):**

***Insert Inuyasha/Kagome duet here***

**"I'm sorry Kagome; I never meant to hurt you!  I never meant to make you cry, so tonight, I'm giving up my ramen."**

**"I'm sorry Inu, I never meant to leave you!  I never meant to make you sad, so tonight, I'm gonna kill Kouga."**

**"Oh Kagome, I'm sorry for that time I watched you bathing."**

**"Inuyasha, I'm sorry for all the times I was flirting with Kouga in front of you."**

***All Sing***

**"Were sorry momma!****  We never meant to hurt you!  We never meant to make you cry, but tonight were cleaning out our closets."**

**(Yes I am an idiot, yes the song sucks… I wrote it out of complete anger and frustration at how badly this chapter was going.  The only reason its still here is because Dana made me keep it.)  For reference I wrote this during the whole Inuyasha/Kagome bedroom apology scene.  That scene just would not work… and then Dana went and fixed it with one simple sentence… *grrr* oh well, I love her anyway. ^_^**

  
**And one last thing…..**** *BANG*  "OWWWWW!!!"**

**Okai… that is all.**

Chapter Eight

Under a Different Sky

An awkward silence filled Kagome's room.  Inuyasha had just awoken with a start to find Kagome sleeping snugly in his lap.  His sudden jerk had woken her as well.

"Err… good morning Inuyasha," said Kagome in an awkward and apologetic tone as she quickly separated herself from him.

_You didn't have to do that…_  "Sorry to wake you Kagome… Um, hi…?"  Inuyasha muttered in the same voice as Kagome, clearly confused as to how she had ended up there, but inwardly disappointed that she got up.

"I, um… saw you on the floor, and thought you looked cold… so…" said Kagome, trying to keep from blushing.

"Oh, well, thank you… I guess…" continued Inuyasha, in the same awkward style.

"I guess you came back to get me last night?"

"Yeah I did, but you were sleeping, so I decided to wait."   _Why can't I ever think straight in situations like this?  How can I tell her, "You didn't have to get up"?  I want her to know why I really came to see her, and how much it hurt me when she ignored me.  I want to tell her… because… I finally understand… how much she really does mean to me._

 Kagome finally began to say what she really wanted to. "I'm glad you came here… because I wanted to talk to you."

"I wanted to talk to you too," Inuyasha replied, relieved that she had raised the issue.

"It's just…"

            "I wanted to say…"

"I'm sorry." they said in unison.

"I'm sorry for ignoring you."  
  


            "I'm sorry for running away."

They sat in silence for a long moment.

"Well, do you think we should go back then?  Hopefully before anyone sees you, you never know when somebody will randomly jump in the window," Kagome said laughingly, but inside she was thinking.  _I wonder, does he know I kissed him?_

"Yeah we should head back; they are all probably waiting for us."  _No, I just want to stay here with you, and talk.  I want to be able to tell you everything._

"Ok, let's go then."

***

"And where have you been?"  inquired Sango as Inuyasha landed in Kaede's village, with Kagome on his back.

"We were sleeping," Inuyasha replied without thought of his response.

Kagome got off Inuyasha just as Miroku came over and slapped him on the back.

"Way to go Inuyasha! I had no idea you had it in you!" Miroku yelled in amusement.

Blushing deep scarlet, Kagome screamed, "You pervert!" and slapped Miroku across the face.

Miroku strode back past Inuyasha and whispered, "You can tell me about it later," this time earning himself a punch from the hanyou.

***

"Well… now that we are all here again, and there are no wolf visitors, I suggest we resume our quest for the Shikon shards," said Miroku, choosing to stand behind Sango and well out of reach of Inuyasha or Kagome. "I fear that Naraku is near completing the jewel, so there cannot be many shards left. We must begin our search again quickly."

"About damn time!" Inuyasha shouted, glad to get on the way again.  "Let's go!" With that he lowered himself and Kagome got on.

"Where are we headed, Inuyasha?" asked Sango as she and Miroku mounted Kirara.

"Anywhere but here, we can't sit around anymore."

"Inuyasha… don't you think we should make a plan or something?" yelled Shippo from Sango's lap.  It was too late, however; Inuyasha was already running down the road and either out of earshot or simply ignoring the fox youkai.

"So where do you think we should go?" Inuyasha whispered to Kagome so the others couldn't hear him.

***

"Inuyasha! You pick the worst directions!  We haven't come across anything for hours!" Shippo complained, perched on top of Sango's head.

"Oh shove it…  I'm sure we are coming up to a village soon; can't you see how the land is cultivated around here?  Try opening your eyes before your mouth for once!" Inuyasha retaliated.

"Inuyasha, I would have to say that is the most hypocritical thing you have ever said!" Kagome stated, almost losing her balance and falling from laughing.

"Feh…"

"It appears Inuyasha was right, I can see smoke on the horizon.  It must be the village."

"See…" sniff "I wonder what they are burning.  It smells like…" sniff sniff "meat!  They must be having a feast!"

Inuyasha, noticing his rumbling stomach, quickened the pace.

"Oh, I wonder what they are cooking. It doesn't smell like pork, its not fish. It could be…"  Inuyasha landed in the village and stopped dead.

"These villagers are not cooking… I recognize this smell… It's a funeral pyre."

Disgusted by the reality of what he though was food, Inuyasha covered his nose from the stench that was overwhelming his senses.

As the others landed beside him and dismounted, Sango voiced what they were all thinking.  "Why… are there so many… dead?"

_Oh god… this looks like a massacre, it feels like my seeing my village destroyed all over again._

  
The group approached the raging inferno and saw that it was more than just a funeral pyre for humans.

"There are youkai in there too!" shouted Shippo.

 "This seems to be the remains of a great battle," replied Miroku, performing an incantation over the dead bodies. "May Buddha have mercy on your souls."

Just then they noticed a group of ragged looking men approaching them.  Some had old tattered swords, some bows, but most had only farming equipment.  
  
"Back again, daemons?  Why won't you just leave our village alone?!" one of the men shouted, drawing back his bow and firing.  The man appeared to be very weak however, because the arrow barely made it half the distance to Inuyasha's group.

Inuyasha began to lunge forward into the fight, but Sango stopped him.  
  
_I don't need to see another massacre like what happened at my village ever again._

"Let me handle this, Inuyasha." Sango put Hiraikotsu down, and approached the group of villagers.  She noticed that almost all of them were either injured, old, or both.  None were in the condition to fight.  "It appears that my friends and I arrived at a bad time, but we are not your enemies!"

"Lies!" shouted the same man as before. "You travel with Daemons, you must be one."

He fired another arrow and this time almost made it to Sango.

"Careful Sango, they don't look like they want to talk," Miroku warned with extreme concern coloring his voice.

_What is she thinking? Going unarmed up to angry men with swords is very dangerous._

"Don't worry, Miroku, we don't pose these men a threat, and they know that."

_Hopefully, I can stop this misunderstanding without any fighting. Maybe we can help them._

The men looked confusedly at each other, none of them willing to attack the group. Then suddenly the man with the bow spoke up again.

"Why should we trust you?  Daemons destroyed this village just day ago; we are the only survivors, along with a few women and three children hidden away.  All else were lost defending our village."

"You can trust me, I'm a youkai exterminator.  You see I am unarmed." She drew her various blades and laid them on the ground as well. "My friends are all good people.  Even Inuyasha, the dog youkai over there, has been my loyal friend and ally for a long time. You can trust us all."

The ragged group of men looked around at each other, and one by one lowered their weapons.


End file.
